The “10 Basic Survival Needs” in an emergency or disaster are essentially the same that we have in our daily lives but which we tend to take for granted unless we come under some disaster or emergency that causes us to struggle to meet them.
For example, if we lose power or water due to an accident, earthquake, storm, or other emergency or disaster, most of us will begin almost immediately to feel inconvenienced and think about emergency supplies. Should the outage or emergency continue past a few hours, we would begin to scramble to find emergency supplies to help hydrate and feed ourselves, to stay warm or cool, or to maintain proper hygiene and sanitation. We would then become more aware of the fact that there really are basic survival needs to be consistently met if we are to stay comfortable, safe, and healthy.
The “10 basic survival needs” to keep us safe and healthy in an emergency or disaster translate to 10 categories of emergency or survival supplies:
- Emergency water
- Emergency food
- Breathing protection
- Trauma First Aid
- Emergency shelter
- Warmth
- Communication
- Emergency Lighting
- Emergency tools
- Sanitation & hygiene
One should ask themselves what is most important emergency supply? Is it emergency food or emergency water? Is trauma first aid most important or emergency shelter?
As you think through various disaster scenarios, it quickly becomes apparent that the emergency supplies of most importance depend on the specific emergency situation. If you are losing large amounts of blood due to a wound, you most need trauma first aid supplies, not a pouch of emergency water. If you are uninjured but left outside in the heat of summer, you need a pouch of emergency water, not trauma first aid supplies. Because emergencies by their nature are not totally predictable, it is important to have emergency supplies from each category of the “10 Basic Emergency Supplies” in your emergency kit.
Having a feeling for the importance of all 10 emergency supply categories helps you move beyond just filling an emergency backpack by checking off a list to preparing a comprehensive emergency kit that you actually understand how to use. Once you understand about various kinds of emergency supplies, you can determine if you need emergency flashlights or just emergency light sticks. Does your emergency communication plan include a battery powered emergency radio or a hand crank radio.
The emergency supplies provided by LifeSecure Emergency Solutions are trusted, tested and tough.
